On 19 July 2023 a meeting took place in Astana between David Cleave, Executive Director of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and Raquel Duarte-Davidson, an international expert on chemical safety and security, and Alexey Tsoy, Director of the Medical Centre Hospital of President’s Affairs Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss collaboration within the framework of the ISTC projects.

During the meeting, Mr. David Cleave presented information about ISTC activities and Project 87 "Preparedness and Response to Mass Gatherings and other Health threats in Central Asia", which is funded by the European Union under the CBRN CoE Initiative. The aim of the project is to enhance the preparedness and response of partner countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) for potential incidents related to food, water, and chemical safety during mass events.

Alexey Tsoy stressed the importance of the project and noted that such an initiative will help to enhance health system in Kazakhstan.

As part of the project, the establishment of Poisons Information Centers is planned in the partner countries. In Kazakhstan, ISTC actively cooperates with the Medical Centre Hospital of President’s Affairs Administration.

As an initial step, ISTC has provided toxicologists from the Medical Centre access to the international poisoning database known as TOXBASE. TOXBASE is the primary clinical toxicological database in the United Kingdom and a significant resource for medical professionals in various countries, offering information on the diagnosis and treatment of various poisonings.

Director Mr. Tsoy agreed to host the Poison Information Centre and ISTC and ISTC's Poison's Expert Raquel Duarte-Davidson will collaborate with initiating this activity and a MoU will be be formalised and exchanged between the Hospital & ISTC in this respect.

The parties expressed their readiness to future cooperation under ISTC projects.

Photo credit: Medical Centre Hospital of President’s Affairs Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan